Monorail system.



P. ENGLISH.

MON ORAIL SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 28,1915.

Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEEI 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CO..WASHINOTDN. D. C

P. ENGLISH.

'MONORA IL SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED APR-28,1915.

Patented Janlil', 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 )NVEHTOR Pal Mu @n COLUMBIA PLANDORAPH CD WASHINGTON D C T TATS ATE PETER ENGLISH, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR 'IO llIONO-RAIL SYNDICATE, FROST & DONOVAN, TRUSTEE, 0F DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN. I

MONORAIL SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

Application filed April 28, 1915. Serial No. 24,411.

troit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan,

have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Monorail Systems, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to trolley cars and railroads of the mono-rail type and consists in the peculiar construction, combinations and arrangements hereinafter describedand pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l, is an elevation of the system showing the car thereon. Fig. 2, is an end view of the system as applied to a double track railway. Fig. 3, is a detail elevation showing the trucks and driving structure. Fig. 4, is a cross-section on the line XX of Fig. 5. Fig. 5, is a section on the line Y-Y of Fig. 4. Fig. 6, is a detail cross-sectional view of the upper track or means for holding the car in position upon the tread rail.

In the drawings, similar letters similar parts.

In the drawings, A represents a car arranged to be driven in accordance with my system.

B is a trussed track rail adapted to receive the weight of the car; it affords a tread for the wheel to propel it and also contacts for the friction wheels which prevent derailment. ably of an H-beam, although it m ght-be a T-beam in cross-section with the flanges of the T uppermost to afford a tread for the wheels. may be arranged and constructed in any convenient manner, although I prefer a single post even for a double track as shown in Fig. 2. In such case a suitable cross truss or beam D is firmly attached to the post 0 and is of sufiicient length to permit the arrangement of two single tracks forming a double track for the transmission of cars, as shown at E, E. Upon the cross beams D is arranged the longitudinal track B with suitable trusses F to maintain its rigidity so far as it is necessary to do so. Rising from refer to It is constructed prefer- C, C are supporting posts which.

carries a cross beam H at the ends of which are also arranged longitudinal T-rails J, J (Flgs. 1 and 2) having a comparatively deep web. The T-rails are also appropriately trussed by a trussing K, K and it may have cross supports and trussing suflicient to maintain it in its horizontal rigid position. The car A is'supported preferably upon two two-wheel trucks L, L the details of which are shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The car is preferably an electrically-driven, although not necessarily so, and in that connection I have shown attached to thesill a of the car an electric motor M which is driven in the ordinary manner by a common source of electricity for all the cars of the system and'which may be conveyed to a car by means of a trolley pole or through the connections at the top and bottom of the car with the rails'respectively as hereinafter described. However, as electric systems, together with the motor, are old and wellknown, I do not deem it necessary to' describe them here; and as electrical connections for driving the car to and from a common source of electricity, whether cable, line-wire, or third rail are all old and wellknown and do not form part of my invention, I also do not describe them. 7

The truck itself is formed of two traction wheels N, N arranged in a frame; the axles being rigidly attached to the traction wheels are continued through the same. They are marked P. A rigid framework Q, having long hubs R forming long bearings for the axles P, extend from either side of the framework Q, and upon one side terminate in sprockets wheels S, S one axle of which at S has two sprocket wheels. Over one of these run a silent chain S to a corresponding sprocket wheel u on the motor whereby the motor is enabled to drive one of the wheels N through its axle and by means of a second chain S is enabled to dri e the other wheel. As these so-called silent chain drives and the sprockets are well known and common, especially in the art of automobiles, it is unnecessary to describe them in detail. it being. obvious that the motor would drive one wheel through the chain and. by means of the succeed ng chain and pair of sprocket wheels, the other wheel also. Rigidlv attached to the framework of the car is a framework shown in sect on in Fig. 5 at T and in elevation in Fig. 3. In

the truck frame gains are cut in the frame at t, t, and projections it upon the framework T engage therein so as to form sliding bearings upon which the truck frame is slidingly held and which permit of a slight oscillation upward and downward of the car body upon which the truck runs. l3etween the two is interposed a spiral spring 2? upon which the weight of the car rests and which permits its oscillation elastically in the ordinary way in which cars are thus supported. This spring is shown in full lines in Fig. 5 on one side and in dotted lines upon the other side in the same figure. The lower part of the truck carries upon appropriate bearings four friction wheels U, U, one of which, in Fig. 4:, is sectioned, the other being in full lines. These friction wheels bear against the web of the track rail B and act as guides for the traveling wheel upon the upper face of the track rail. Inasmuch as the web is wider than the tread of the friction wheels U, U they can play up and down to accommodate any inequality of wear of either track or the traveling wheels thereon.

Upon the top of the car body is a sufliciently rigid framework V carrying two sets of friction wheels V, V. One of these friction wheels is near one end of the car and the other set of friction wheels V is at the opposite end of the car. These wheels steady the car and at the same time prevent its upsetting by impinging against the web of the upper rail J which is also of sufficient width so that it allows of suflicient oscillation of the car between the two rails B and J without detaching the guide wheels V, V from the upper rail. This construction is shown in detail in Fig. 6. I have shown a contact wheel at 7, provided the upper line J is insulated, and used as an electric conductor. Suitable connections would enable electricity therefrom to be carried to the motor and lighting apparatus in the car and thence to the friction wheels U, U or to any other part or to a separate contact wheel TV at the bottom of the car, in contact with the web of the rail B, or a brush 8 may be used in place of contact wheels to make the electric connection. The ordinary commutator too and switches are used. In connection with the car and rail B, I provide a friction brake by which a shoe 3 can be impelled by means of toggle joints y, or any means for drawing the jo nts toward a straight line, to impinge upon the rail l3, taking thus more or less of the weight of the car upon the shoe, thereby affording a braking system.

' I intend to make this system as noiseless as possible and in doing so the carrying truck wheels N, N are provided with hard rubber tires N, N, as I' have found under circumstances of suitable weights that such tires can be made of sufficient rigidity and yet with some elasticity so that they will be economical and efiicient in running as well as having a good driving surface and yet be practically noiseless in running over the rail.

I prefer also to equip all the friction wheels U, U and V, V with corresponding rubber tires as shown in cross-section of said wheels, so that there will be no rattle or otherwise noisy impingement of said friction wheels against the web of the rails B and J. By using these devices in connection with the silent chain, I am enabled to get a practically noiseless car. By the general arrangement I am able to get a very compact and simple system of transportation which occupies very little space in the streets, even with the double system with two rails, and one which is much safer than where cars depend entirely upon flanges on the wheels to retain them upon the tracks, a matter which is of much importance in elevated railways. In the elevated railways numerous and serious accidents at curves and switches have been caused by cars leaving the tracks. By my system this is absolutely prevented, short of complete destruction of the, tracks and guiding ways themselves.

The operation of this system is clearly apparent from the foregoing description.

What I claim is:

1. In a mono-rail system, the combination of a lower truck rail, an upper guiding and sustaining rail, a car interposed and carried between them, carrying trucks for said car, each axle thereof having a single central wheel with a flat tread, depending arms from the truck thereof, carrying guiding or friction wheels impinging against the web of the tread rail, a power apparatus applied to the axle of said tread wheel to drive the same and propel the car, suitable friction and guiding wheels at the top of the car impinging against the sides of a guiding and retaining rail above the car, with means to allow vertical oscillation of the car between the lower and upper rails, substantially as described.

2. In a mono-rail system, the combination of a lower truck rail, an upper guiding and sustaining rail, a car interposed and carried between them, carrying trucks for said car, each aXle thereof having a single central wheel with a fiat tread, depending arms from the truck thereof, carrying guiding or friction wheels impinging against the web of the tread rail, a power apparatus applied to the axle of said tread wheel to drive the same and propel the car, suitable friction and guiding wheels at the top of the car imping ng against the sides of the guiding and retaining rail above the car, the tread wheels being fo med in their peripheries with a hard rubber tread, substantially as described.

3. In a mono-rail system, the combination of a lower truck rail, an upper guiding and sustaining rail, a car interposed and carried between them, carrying trucks for said car, each axle thereof havinga single central wheel with a flat tread, depending arms from the truck thereof, carrying guiding or friction wheels impinging against the web of the tread rail, power apparatus applied to the aXleof said tread wheel to drive the same and propel the car, suitable friction and guiding wheels at the top of the car impinging against the sides of theguiding and retaining rail above the car with means to allow vertical oscillation of the car between the lower and upper rails, and an independent braking system whereby the weight of the car is transferred to the rail by means independent of the wheels, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification.

PETER ENGLISH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

